U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman hold hands during a meeting in the Oval Office. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters
A Saudi official denied to AFP reports that representatives of the kingdom had taken part in a meeting on Sunday in Abu Dhabi between Israel’s premier and the UAE president.
Israeli media had claimed that Saudi officials attended an expanded meeting after the talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, saying the focus was security cooperation, Iran, Yemen’s Houthis and regional defence systems.
“No official meetings. No talks. Nothing whatsoever. Our stance on Israel remains unchanged,” a Saudi official told AFP on Tuesday.
The United Arab Emirates is a top U.S. ally in the region and one of a handful of Arab nations with official ties to Israel after signing the Abraham Accords during U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term in 2020.
Saudi Arabia has maintained that it will not normalise relations with Israel without a clear path to Palestinian statehood.
Published – September 30, 2026 02:34 pm IST
